Christmas 2015

Happy holidays to all of you!

Greetings of the season and best wishes to you all! What a year it has
been—some travel, great moments with grandchildren, an engagement (with a
family wedding in our future), and a discovery that has rocked Larry to his
core.

Larry Discovers He’s a Sullivan

Larry’s mom died in 1964, taking with her to the grave the true identity of
Larry’s father. So in August, Larry spit in a bottle and submitted his DNA
to Ancestry.com, hoping only to learn
where his ancestors had come from. But DNA analysis has improved
dramatically in recent years and can now identify close relatives among the
samples that others have submitted for testing.

Among the DNA results was a second cousin whom he didn’t recognize, so Larry
contacted him. With his help, Larry discovered who his real father was—Regis
J. Sullivan (1914 – 1989), a 1939 colleague of his mother at Montgomery Ward
in Dearborn.

It was an unsettling finding, to say the least. He is making some progress
in learning about that side of his family, and there is more to come, I’m
sure. It was eerie to look at a photo of his purported father, and see
Larry’s eyes and David’s mouth on this total stranger.

We returned in time for friends Kelly and Steve’s wedding—it was a beautiful
and emotional ceremony.

Summer in the Pacific Northwest

In July Larry and I flew to Spokane to start the “cousins tour.”

In Moses Lake, Washington, we had dinner with my aunt Patty, her daughter
Tina, and grandson James. In Coeur d’Alene,
we saw my Uncle Tom; in Twin Falls, we
dined overlooking the Snake
River with my aunt Jackie, daughter Becky, and son-in-law Rod. In
Boise, it was lunch with my Burke
cousins Susan, Roberta, and Kathy.

From there it was a long haul to the Pacific coast and
Bandon, Oregon, for a visit with
my college roommate Elaine and John, who live there half the year. In
Grants Pass, we breakfasted
with Larry’s cousin Jeanie, and finally in
Mill Valley, California, we
brunched with her dad, Joe, and siblings Tom and Margie and their other
halves Jemma and Alex.

Joe, sadly, had a fall a few weeks ago and passed away the day before
Thanksgiving, at 91 years of age. He will be greatly missed.

The best part of this trip was being able to connect with so many relatives
and friends we haven’t seen in a while.

The White House and David’s Proposal

Larry took a solo (guys) trip with our friend Warren to Dayton, Ohio, and
toured the National Museum of
the USAF. They flew on to D.C. to visit the
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum as
well as sites on the Capital Mall.
Larry’s phone rang while he was standing in front of the
White House. It was David.
“Yesterday I proposed to Jen. We’re going to get married next year.” Perhaps
that’s why they’re smiling so broadly on this year’s card photo.

Health Issues

His return to LAX was marred by my hospitalization with cardiac
problems—Cathy sent a cop buddy to pick him up and take him to the hospital,
where I stayed for three days and experienced every cardiac test known to
man (and woman). It’s possible the virus that hit me on the Idaho trip
caused some damage, but the bottom line is I have reduced heart function and
will have a follow-up
echocardiogram in a few weeks. I am
feeling better, walking again, but being challenged by hills and stairs.

On the positive side, Larry’s decades-old chronic cough is for the most part
cured, thanks to the depression-treating drug
nortriptyline—not only
has he stopped coughing but he’s become much more positive about life.

The Girls

Cathy is doing pretty much the same sort of training for
LAPD this year, although because of
so many sad events in this country, there’s more emphasis on teaching
strategies for responding to active shooters. She’s become very involved in
PTA activities at Tori’s school,
which include the Safety Committee, Ability Awareness Week, and the upcoming
Jog-a-thon. Jenny continues litigating for
Meyers
and Nave, and while I’m guessing most of the work is rather pedestrian,
getting to close down an
illegal
strip joint in San Diego sounds quite interesting.

The Guys

Brian’s work at Adobe continues as lead
developer on their subscription platform team, and Marion is working
part-time in graphic design. David has left
Experian, and has become marketing
director for Laurel and Wolf.
Marketing means getting the startup placed near the top among the
results when you do a web search for interior design. His fiancée
Jen has also changed jobs and is working for a new enterprise that helps
companies offer employees a benefit that pays down their college loan debt.
It’s called www.tuition.io. Get it?

And Us…

Larry still does his Computer Whisperer work, and has slogged through months
of PT for the wrist broken in Romania last year, as well as eight months of
ineffective weekly allergy shots. I’m still painting (oils) and gardening,
reading thousands of books per month (not!), and enjoying watching Tori grow
and become more independent. Grandma Camp in late August was lots
of fun and took us to some different venues, including a
delightful children’s museum in
neighboring Oxnard.

We had a big group for Thanksgiving again this year, for which we give
thanks. Especially we are grateful that my dad, great-grandpa Jerry Burke,
is still able to join us at 94 years young, and enjoys explaining the
subtleties of football to Nicky and Jamie (aged 6). Tori and Lucie will
celebrate their 9th birthdays in January, and are amazingly articulate and
interesting young ladies.